Mary's Song
by SparrowEyedGirl
Summary: Maryanne Walsh-Grimes was a lot of things, but wear her down, and she can only take so much. When her husband is shot into a coma, later to die, and her brother bursts into her house telling her to pack for Atlanta, she only has the strength to make it day by day. But, that all changes when a box truck pulls into the camp. Rick/OC, non-cannon Shane/Lori. Rated T.
1. Chapter 1

**Oh hi there. Welcome to Mary's Song.**

**This is my second Walking Dead fic, the first one is called Surviving Today, if you're interested.**

**This was just a random idea I had as I was listening to Taylor Swift's Mary's Song (Oh My My My). So, if you want to get a general idea... Go ahead and give it a listen!**

**Obviously, this is a Rick/OC fic. So, what about Carl and Lori? Well, Lori's married to Shane and Carl is their son. Bam.**

**I don't own anything. Enjoy!**

Prologue

Maryanne Grimes woke to find the other side of the bed cold and empty. It didn't surprise her, she had a habit of sleeping in when she didn't have to open her restaurant, and since that was a day her husband had to work, she always woke to this.

All alone in her house, since she had no children or pets, she showered and went down the stairs, her feet bare. She sat down at her computer, making online orders for her restaurant and looking at the accounts.

When her cell phone rang, she immediately picked it up and answered, expecting it to be a company she'd contacted.

"Maryanne Grimes."

"So formal?"

Maryanne laughed at her husband's remark, holding the phone between her ear and shoulder to continue typing. "Sorry, darlin', I thought you were someone else."

"And who did you think I was?"

Maryanne rolled her eyes. "My secret lover."

She heard Rick laugh, and she did too. She, then, caught sight of the clock, which read 12:45. Rick would be heading out for his lunch break right about now, if he hadn't already. Maryanne sighed and cursed. She'd meant to bring him something.

"Somethin' wrong?"

"Ah, I'm just an idiot."

"Forget to do somethin'?"

"You know me too well," Maryanne said with a smile on her face. "How's everythin' goin'?"

"Nothin' interestin' so far, Shane and I are headin' out to get somethin' to eat."

"Well, I take comfort in knowin' somethin' ain't goin' wrong. I've gotta get back to focusin' on this, I'll talk to you soon."

"Love you."

"Love you too, Rick."

They hung up, and Maryanne couldn't deny the sudden feeling of dread.

Orders and finances done, Maryanne flicked on her radio and started to make dinner. Her sister-in-law, Lori, always joked how she was a 1950's housewife whenever she was home. Maryanne always rolled her eyes, but in truth, she knew she was. Maryanne didn't mind.

A knock on the door pulled her from her thoughts, and she dried her hands before turning off the radio. She opened the door.

"Shane!" she said, smiling at her older brother. He returned the smile, but not like he normally did.

"Come on in," she said, and he did. Maryanne shut the door behind him.

"You hungry? I don't have anythin' now, but-"

"Nah, it's okay, Mary. I can't stay."

Maryanne looked back at her older brother, and frowned. He wasn't his normal self.

"What's wrong, Shane? You and Lori get into it again?"

Shane shook his head. "Nah... we're fine... it's uh... well, it's Rick."

Maryanne stared at him for a moment, her heart sinking. She had expected this – he was a Sheriff.

"Is he dead?" she asked quietly. Shane shook his head.

"We got a call. Two guys stole a car. We didn't see the third... he's in a coma."

Maryanne sighed and leaned against the kitchen counter, running her hands through her hair – a tick both her and her brother possessed.

"Mary... you want me to stay?"

"No... no, I'll be fine. Go on home, I'll be fine, Shane."

"You're sure?"

Maryanne nodded, accepted the embrace from her brother, and watched him leave.

She felt so numb.

**Well... there's that.**

**Let me know what you think in a review, I'd love to hear it. If I get a good response, I'll post the first chapter either later tonight or tomorrow. Most likely, later tonight.**

**I hope you all enjoyed and have a lovely Sunday. Thanks for reading!**

**-SparrowEyedGirl**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello again everyone, and to everyone who just clicked on this story; welcome!**

**In honor of Walking Dead day tomorrow (WHICH I AM SO EXCITED FOR), here's an update. It would have been here sooner, since I love the response I'm getting, but I either forgot or I just didn't have time. Sorry about that.**

**I hope you all enjoy! I don't own anything except for Mary.**

Chapter One

Rick saw the blinding white ceiling of the hospital room, heard the heart monitor beeping. He saw the blurred outline of his best friend, his wife behind him. She stepped around her brother and smiled at him.

"Hey, sweetheart," she said. He felt her fingers in his hair. "We're still here, we're still hangin' on..."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Shane set down a vase of flowers. Mary smiled.

"Everyone at the station pitched in on those. They send their love and... we hope you come back real soon..."

"Linda and Diane from dispatch, they picked them out... guess you could tell, huh?" Shane said, his voice breaking. Rick saw Mary take her brother's hand.

Rick longed to reach out and touch Mary's curled hair, tell them both he was awake, he could see them. But, they were gone before he could.

"That vase – that's somethin' special," he said, hoping they could hear him before they left the room. "'Fess up, Shane, did you steal that from your grandma Jean's house? Hope you left her that spoon collection."

He laughed, but it was cut off by a fit of coughing. Jesus, his throat was dry.

"Mary?" he called when there was only silence. "Shane?"

He looked over, and no one was there. The flowers were dried up. He looked around. The clocks weren't working. The heart monitor wasn't beeping. It was too quiet.

Slowly and shakily, Rick sat up. Using his I.V. pole, he tried to stand, but it ended with both him and the pole clattering to the floor. Frustrated, he ripped out the I.V.'s needle with a shaking hand.

He called out for a nurse, but no one answered.

He managed to stand on his own, and found the door to the bathroom, ripping gauze off his arm as he went. He stared at the mirror, scarcely recognizing himself. Mary would've killed him, had she seen him like this...

He turned on the sink, drinking the water greedily, his dry throat relishing.

After a few moments, he turned off the sink and exited the hospital room, entering a dim hallway with flashing emergency lights.

He moved a mobile bed from his path, and walked over to an alcove. He saw a phone, and immediately picked it up, dialing his home number. He had to call Mary, he had to let her know he was okay.

There was one problem; there was no ringing on the other end. There was no dial tone. There was nothing.

He walked through the empty hallways, picking up a small box of matches on the way.

He came across the gray doors to the cafeteria, which were padlocked shut with a wooden plank in the handles. It was spray painted, the message reading "Don't open, dead inside."

The doors opened, and pale, rotted hands began to reach towards him. He exhaled shakily and left, using the fire exit to leave the hospital. The light of the sun blinded him, but he managed to stumble down the stairs. He walked between rows of dead bodies. Hollow eyes stared up at nothing, flies buzzed around the stained cloth. Row after row after row...

_What the hell happened here?_

Rick Grimes knew he had to get home, he had to get back to Mary. He began to walk, knowing the small town of King County like the back of his hand. When he came across a bike, he walked over and picked it up, thanking whatever higher power.

He ignored the body that was missing everything from the waist down. He kept his thoughts focused on his wife, his best friend and his family.

Rick came out of his thoughts when he heard a growling. He slowly looked around, and his eyes rested on the half of a body, which was now alive and snapping at him.

"Ah! Oh, shit!"

He fell to the ground, staring at the body that was trying to crawl over to him. Slowly, he stood and got on the bike, riding away from the body making animal-like noises. He rode to his home, where the front door was wide open and the clear door in front of it was barely open. He entered the home, using the front door to support his tired body.

"Mary," he called. No answer. He looked around the familiar house, looking for any sign of his wife.

"Mary!" he called again, louder. She didn't answer.

"Shane!" he tried, hoping maybe she wasn't home, but his friend was. "Mary!"

There was still no answer. He feared for the worst, since their home looked ransacked.

"_Maryanne_!" he yelled. Silence met his calls. His hands met the ground.

"_Mary_!"

He began to sob now, before he curled up on the ground, still begging for his wife.

"Is this real?" he asked quietly, after he had calmed a little. "Am I here?"

He didn't know. Everything felt real, the floor, the belongings in their home, even the shirt he had found that belonged to Mary.

"Wake- wake up..." he begged himself.

But he didn't. He remained in his house, wondering what happened.

He exited the home after a few minutes of more searching, sitting on the stoop. The hot sun stung his bare feet, but he no longer cared. His wife, the one woman he loved more than life, was gone. He hoped she was with her brother, but he didn't know, and it was absolutely killing him.

Rick saw a man walking down the street, and waved to him. Maybe he knew what happened. The man walked closer, and Rick struggled to see who it was.

He didn't hear anyone approach until a twig snapped. He turned, and a shovel caught him in the face. His back met the ground, and he tasted blood. He looked up at the boy, who looked so much like his nephew...

"Carl... Carl, I found you..." if Carl was here, Shane and Lori couldn't be too far behind, and Mary could be with them.

He looked to his right and watched as the man he had seen in the street was shot in the head. He fell to the ground, lifeless, and the murderer ran over. Rick's breathing quickened.

"He say somethin'? I thought I heard him say somethin'!"

"He called me Carl!"

"Son, you know they don't talk."

Rick was completely confused. "They"? Why couldn't "they" talk? Why had he murdered that man?

"Hey mister, what's that bandage for?" the man demanded.

"Wh... what?"

"What kind of wound?" he asked, aiming his gun at Rick's head.

Rick tried to tell them he was shot, but the words wouldn't come out of his mouth.

"You answer me, damn you! What's your wound? You tell me... or I _will _kill you."

But Rick passed out before he could answer.

**An entire chapter from Rick's view, what?**

**Truth be told, I was going to do an entire story just from one character's view, but it didn't work out. They don't give us too much of the camp before Rick struts back in.**

**Anyway, leave me a review and tell me what you think of the first chapter! Thanks for reading, I hope you guys have a great day!**

**-SparrowEyedGirl**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello everyone, I know it's been awhile. I've been really sick and I just haven't had the energy to do anything.**

**But anyway, welcome to chapter two! I don't own anything, enjoy!**

Chapter Two

Maryanne couldn't remember how long it had been since Shane had come into her home, confirming the news reports, and telling her Rick was dead. Since she had numbly packed up everything she could and tried to evacuate to Atlanta. Since they had bombed the streets and a group of people created their own safe zone.

Maryanne found she only had the strength to focus on the day, and she did. She was a strong woman, truly, but life had just thrown too much at her at once. So, she would focus on what needed to be done – laundry, cooking, watching the kids – and when she went to bed, she just repeated what she did the day prior.

She hardly recognized herself anymore. Her laugh lines were a bit more prominent now, her brown eyes no longer filled with laughter and life, and her hair always pulled back, where it had always been down and curled.

Maryanne sighed and went back to her tent. She sat down in a nestle of blankets and pulled a small photo album out of her bag. She flipped it open, smiling at the pictures it contained.

"Mary?"

Maryanne looked up to see Lori, and she smiled at her sister-in-law and long time best friend. She managed a smile for the woman.

"You alright?" Lori asked, and Maryanne nodded.

"Yeah... I am."

And she would be, for today.

Since Rick had woken up, he'd killed three walkers, taken what guns he could from the station, and he was now driving towards Atlanta when the car stalled. Rick sighed, knowing the car needed gas. He got out, taking the guns and a gas can with him, and walked until he saw a house.

"Hello?" he called. "Police officer out here. Can I borrow some gas?"

When there was no answer, he walked around the house, knocking on doors and looking through windows to see if anyone was home.

He sighed when he saw the residents of the home dead. He sighed, stepping off the porch. He opened the truck door, hoping that the keys were in the ignition, but no such luck.

Rick slammed the door shut, and just when he was about to give up and continue walking, he heard the sound of a horse. He found himself smiling.

He grabbed a rope and entered the yard, walking towards the dark colored horse. The horse neighed and backed away.

"Easy now, easy," Rick said. "I'm not gonna hurt ya... nothin' like that. More like a... proposal. Atlanta's just down the road a ways, it's safe there. Food, shelter, people... other horses, too, I bet. How's that sound?"

The horse let him slip the rope around its neck, and Rick smiled again. He admired how much he looked like a horse Mary used to own.

_She's gonna love this._

"There we go, good boy... now come with me, come on."

He lead the horse away, put a saddle and reigns on him, and went in the direction of Atlanta.

"Let's go easy, okay?" he said to the horse. "I haven't done this for years."

Since he was about seventeen, in fact...

S_hane drove to a horse stable, saying that he needed to pick up his sister and Lori. Rick didn't understand why Shane had told him he should come, since he and Lori had already broken up and Mary was always too shy to speak, but he did anyway._

_ Shane parked the car and went into the barn._

_ "Mary! Where are ya, ya lil' punk?" Shane called to his sixteen year old sister._

_ "Over here! Lori ain't with me, though. I'll let you find her yourself."_

_ Shane rolled his eyes at his younger sister and went off in search of Lori, and Rick walked in the direction of Mary's voice, his hands in his pockets._

_ He found her in front of a stall, petting a dark brown horse with a white nose. Dark hair fell to the middle of her back, usually straight and curled upward at the ends, and wide, brown eyes seemed to look right through you when she looked at you. On days like today, she went without make-up, not that she even needed it, her face naturally flawless. Truth be told, Rick always thought she was pretty, but he'd never tell Shane that._

_ She looked over, and smiled slightly, her cheeks flaming pink._

_ "Afternoon," he said._

_ "Yeah, same to you," she replied quietly. Rick walked closer, standing next to her. The horse looked at him warily, and Maryanne smiled._

_ "Don't worry 'bout him, he ain't the best judge of character."_

_ "He trusts you," Rick pointed out._

_ "No one bites the hand that feeds them," Maryanne replied. She stepped inside the stall, where she threw a horse blanket on its back, followed by a saddle. Rick was content just watching her, and she seemed content in the silence._

_ "Wanna come?"_

_ Rick raised an eyebrow, causing Maryanne to smile._

_ "Goin' for a ride. You wanna come?"_

_ "Oh, I don't..."_

_ "Shane and Lori probably won't make an appearance for awhile, if they haven't already left yet."_

_ "Shane wouldn't leave without ya."_

_ "If Lori was with him? Yeah, he would," Maryanne said quietly. "I got no problem with it, I like knowin' he cares about her."_

_ She looked up at him with her warm eyes. "Well? What do ya say?"_

That day, Rick and Mary began to talk more, and her shy demeanor deteriorated by the day. Soon after she'd graduated, her horse, Spirit, passed away. Mary never went back to that stable, trying hard to forget.

But Rick would never forget.

Atlanta was just up ahead. The horse stopped, and he took in the dead landscape and the abandoned cars. He sighed and urged the horse forward, and they came into the city.

The horse was uneasy, and so was he. Everything was dead, it was so quiet...

They ran into a few walkers, but Rick paid them no mind. He didn't pay much mind until he heard a sound very familiar to him.

Rick looked up to see the reflection of a helicopter on a building. He pushed the horse forward, pursuing it.

Only he wished he hadn't.

He went to turn a corner, and ran straight into a herd of walkers. He exhaled and went back, trying to find his way back out of the city, but there were walkers everywhere, and they were coming after him.

"Oh, shit," he said. He tried to turn around again, but the creatures were surrounding both him and the horse. Rotted hands grabbed at him, and he and the horse fell to the ground.

They were on the horse first, and Rick didn't have time to look twice, didn't have time to grab the bag of guns, didn't even have time to feel guilty. He crawled away from the creatures, under a nearby tank.

"Oh, God," he muttered, over and over. He wasn't getting out of this, he knew that. He was surrounded.

He pulled out his gun, shooting a few, but he knew it wasn't enough.

"I'm sorry, Mary," he said, pointing the gun to his head. But he couldn't do it. All he saw was her smile and her eyes, all he heard was her laugh, and he couldn't do it.

Instead, he climbed into the tank, closing the entrance and backing away.

Panting, he pulled a gun out of the holster of the dead man next to him, and began to inspect it.

He heard the growls, and looked over to see said dead man alive and snarling at him. Thinking quickly, he shot the walker, but regretted it a moment later. High-pitched ringing filled his ears, and wouldn't stop. He withered on the ground, clenching his teeth in pain.

And then, he saw it.

An open entrance to the top of the tank.

Slowly, Rick stood and looked out. The walkers were still surrounding the tank, and the bag of guns were still laying on the street. He thought maybe he could get away, run with whatever weapons he had, but no such luck. Some had seen him, and he was forced to shut and lock the entrance while they pounded on the metal.

He didn't know what he was going to do. Even with both guns, there weren't that many rounds. It would be suicide, trying to go out there.

Rick sat for a few moments, sweat pouring down his face.

"Hey, you. Dumbass."

Rick looked over at the radio.

"Yeah, you in the tank. Are you cozy in there?"

**Well, there's that. Stay tuned to find out what happens next!**

**Why don't you drop me a review, let me know what you think? It really means a lot to see the response I'm getting – especially since I haven't seen a lot of Rick/OC stories, and no Lori/Shane stories.**

**Anyway, I'll see you guys next time. Thanks for reading, have a great day!**

**-SparrowEyedGirl**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello everyone! Hope you've been well.**

**Here's the chapter everyone's been waiting for. I don't own anything, besides Maryanne. Enjoy!**

Chapter Two

Maryanne was sitting across from her nephew, absentmindedly playing with her necklace which held Rick's wedding band.

"Aunt Mary?"

Maryanne looked up, and smiled at Carl.  
"Yeah?"

"You okay?"

"Yeah... yeah, I'm fine, just thinkin'."

Carl nodded. That's what Mary loved about him, he never asked too many questions. It came with being young, she guessed.

"Dale, I'm heading out," Maryanne heard Lori say. "Sweetheart, I want you to stay where Dale or Mary can see you, okay?"

"Yes, mom."

"You, too," Mary said. "Don't wander too far, stay within shoutin' distance, and if ya see anythin', holler."

Lori rolled her eyes. "Yes, mom."

Mary rolled her eyes as well, resisting the urge to throw something at her.

With the day passing uneventfully, Maryanne was growing fidgety, and was glad for the distraction of hanging laundry.

"He tried to save Rick, you know," Lori said when she caught Maryanne looking at her brother and his son. Maryanne nodded.

"I know he did. Even if he didn't, after everythin' he's done, it would be hard to be mad at him. He wouldn't allow it, anyway, that's just Shane."

"Hello, base camp! Can anybody out there hear me? Base camp, this is T-Dog. Anybody hear me?"

Maryanne and Lori set down the clothes and gathered around the R.V.

"Hello? Hello? Reception's bad on this end. Repeat, repeat."

"Shane, is that you?"

"Is that them?" Lori asked.

"We're in some deep shit," T-Dog told them. "We're trapped in the department store."

"He say they're trapped?" Shane asked.

"There are geeks all over the place. Hundreds of 'em, we're surrounded."

"T-Dog, repeat that last, repeat."

Static.

"He said the department store..." Lori said.

"I heard it, too," Dale told them.

"Shane," Maryanne said to her older brother.

"No way," he replied. "We do not go after them, we do not risk the rest of the group. Y'all know that."

"So we're just gonna leave her there?" Amy, who's sister was with the group in the department store, demanded.

"Amy, I know that this is not easy-"

"She volunteered to go! To help the rest of us!"

"I know. And she knew the risks, right? See, if she's trapped... she's gone. We just have to deal with that."

"She's my sister you son of a bitch!" Amy growled, running off. Maryanne sighed. She knew her brother was right, they couldn't risk anyone else, but he shouldn't have told her like that.

Rain started to fall.

Maryanne was sitting with her brother, his wife, and her nephew, folding some clothes. Lori was giving her son a haircut – which he wouldn't sit still for – and Shane was cleaning his gun.

"Hey, the more you fidget the longer it takes, darlin'," she told Carl, who scrunched his nose.

"I'm trying!"

"Well, try harder," Maryanne said, laughing.

"You think this is bad, wait till ya start shavin'. That stings. That day comes, you'll be beggin' for one of your momma's haircuts."

"I'll believe that when I see it," Carl grumbled back, and his father laughed.

"I'll tell ya what, you just get through this with some manly dignity, and tomorrow I'll teach ya somethin' special. I will teach you to catch frogs."

"I've caught a frog before," Carl contradicted.

"I said frogs," his father replied. "Plural. And it is an art, my friend, it is not to be taken lightly."

Maryanne snorted, earning a glare from her brother. This only caused her to smile more.

"There are ways and means few people know about. I'm willin' to share my secrets," he continued.

Carl looked back at his mother, and she rolled her eyes.

"I'm a girl, you talk to him," she told him, turning his head back to Shane.

"It's a one-time offer, bud, not to be repeated.

"Why do we need frogs, plural?"

"Ever eat frog legs?"

"Eww!" Carl yelled.

"No, yum!" Shane replied.

"Gonna have to agree with my brother on this one," Maryanne replied, laughing.

"No, Carl's right, eww," Lori said.

"Ah, when you get down to that last can of beans, you're gonna be lovin' those frog legs, lady!" he said. "I can see it now – 'Shane, do you think I could have a second helping, please? Just one?'"

Maryanne tried to hide her smile at her brother's impression of Lori, but Lori saw and glared at the both of them, though she was smiling as well.

"Yeah, I doubt that," she said.

"Don't listen to her, man. You and me, we'll be heroes. We'll feed these folks Cajun-style Kermit legs."

"I would rather eat Miss Piggy," Lori grumbled, then paused as she noted the looks Shane and Maryanne gave her. "Yes, that came out wrong."

The siblings laughed, and even Lori couldn't keep the smile off her face.

"Heroes, son, spoken of in song and legend. You and me – Shane and Carl."

"Yeah, I'm sure you and your son will be the only heroes mentioned ever again because they fed some people during the zombie apocalypse," Maryanne replied sarcastically.

A car alarm broke through their conversation, and Maryanne was immediately alert.

"Hey, Dale, can you see what that is?" Shane asked. "Talk to me, Dale!"

"I can't tell yet," the older man replied.

"Is it them?" Amy asked frantically. "Are they back?"

"I'll be damned..."

"What is it?"

"Stolen car is my guess," Dale answered.

Maryanne's eyebrows furrowed, and she watched as a red Mustang pulled into the camp.

"Holy crap, turn that damn thing off!"

"I don't know how!"

"Pop the hood, please. Pop the damn hood, please."

"My sister, Andrea-"

"Pop the damn hood!"

"What? Okay, okay!"

Glenn got in the car and opened the hood of the car, answering Amy's questions about her sister, and Shane disabled the alarm. Silence rang in Maryanne's ears.

"Why isn't she with you?" Amy demanded. "Where is she? She's okay?"

"Yes! Yeah, fine. Everybody is. Well... Merle, not so much."

Maryanne sighed. Nobody would miss him, probably not even his brother.

"You crazy, drivin' this wailin' bastard up here? You tryin' to draw every walker for miles?" Shane demanded, and Maryanne pinched the bridge of her nose.

_Here he goes..._

"I think we're okay..." Dale replied.

"You call being stupid 'okay'?"

"Well, that alarm was echoing all over these hills, hard to pinpoint the source. I'm not arguing, I'm just saying."

"He's right, Shane," Maryanne said. She knew her brother didn't like Dale – she didn't exactly know why. "We're okay."

"It wouldn't hurt you to think things through a little more carefully next time, would it?"

"Would y'all just leave him alone?" Maryanne snapped, causing silence. "He's just a kid."

"I'm sorry," Glenn finally said. "I got a cool car."

Maryanne rolled her eyes, and watched as another car rolled in, this one being a large box truck. The people who'd gone on the run – Morales, T-Dog, Jacqui, and Andrea, stepped out, and were reunited with families, if they had one. Maryanne found she couldn't look.

She heard someone approach her, and felt hands take her own. She looked up to see her best friend.

"Hey, you okay?" Lori asked, and Maryanne nodded.

"Yeah, I'll be okay..." Maryanne told her.

"You still have us, okay? You know that?"

Maryanne nodded, and accepted Lori's embrace.

"How'd y'all get outta there anyway?" she heard Shane ask.

"New guy, he got us out."

"New guy?"

"Yeah. Crazy _vato_ just got into town," Morales replied. "Hey, helicopter boy! Come say hello!"

Silence.

Then...

"Uncle Rick!"

Maryanne froze. That was Carl's voice. He only had one uncle, only one named Rick...

She pulled away from Lori...

And the rest of the world disappeared as she locked eyes with the one person she had missed more than anything.

"Oh, my God," she heard him whisper. He walked towards her, and the tears in her eyes spilled onto her face. She ran to him, and he caught her in an embrace. She felt his face in her hair, and she smiled.

"Is this real?" she whispered into his neck. If it wasn't, it was the best dream she had had in weeks.

"It is, I promise you," he said, a hand coming to her loose hair. "I'm here, Mary."

She smiled, grabbing fistfuls of his shirt. She was well aware that everyone was watching them, but she didn't care. She had her husband back, nothing could ruin this moment.

"Disoriented. I guess that comes closest... disoriented."

He tightened his hold on Mary, and took a minute before continuing. He was so glad to have her back, so grateful that Glenn had unintentionally lead him to his wife.

"Fear, confusion, all of those things but... disoriented comes closest."

"Words can be meager things," an older man – he was sure Mary had said his name was Dale – told him. "Sometimes, they fall short."

"I felt like I'd been ripped out of my life and put somewhere else. For awhile, I thought I was trapped in some coma dream – somethin' I might not wake up from ever."

He felt Mary's hand on his forearm, and he smiled down at her.

"Mom and dad said you died," his nephew told him sadly.

"They had every reason to believe that," Rick told him. "Don't you ever doubt it."

He didn't miss Mary's glare at Shane. They'd gotten into it earlier – she'd accused him of lying to her about him dying, he told her he was just mistaken. She didn't believe him.

"When things got really bad, the hospital told me they were gonna medevac you and the other patients to Atlanta," Mary told him stiffly. "It never happened. Shane went to go check in and... well, you know the rest."

"Well, I'm not surprised after Atlanta fell," Rick told her. "From the look of that hospital, it got overrun."

"Looks don't deceive. I barely got them out."

"I can't tell ya how grateful I am to you, Shane," Rick told his friend. "I can't begin to express it."

"There go those words falling short again," Dale mused, and he felt Mary laugh slightly. "Paltry things."

Mary's head jerked to the left at the sound of wood clattering, and she sighed.

"Hey, Ed? You wanna rethink that log?" Shane asked.

"It's cold, man," Ed replied. Mary exhaled angrily, and Rick looked down at her. She just shook her head.

"Cold don't change the rules, does it?" Shane said. "Keep our fires low, just embers so we can't be seen from a distance, right?"

"I said it's cold. You should go mind your own business for once."

"Rot in hell, you bastard," he heard Mary mutter.

"Have you given any thought to Daryl Dixon? He won't be happy to hear his brother was left behind," Dale said when Shane came back from talking to Ed.

"And when was Daryl ever happy about anythin'?" Mary asked.

"I'll tell him. I dropped the key, it's on me," T-Dog replied.

"I cuffed him, that makes it mine," Rick told him.

"Hey," Mary started, and both men looked at her. "Every man gets what he deserves. Don't you dare blame yourselves, alright?"

"We could lie," Amy suggested.

"He'd find out eventually," Mary contradicted. "We tell the truth."

"Merle was out of control," Andrea added. "Something had to be done, or he'd have gotten us killed."

She looked at Mary before continuing. "Your husband did what was necessary."

Mary nodded. "I believe that. If Merle got left behind, ain't nobody's fault but his."

"And that's what we tell Daryl?" Dale asked. "I don't see a rational discussion to be had from that, do you? Word to the wise – we're gonna have our hands full when he gets back from his hunt."

"I was scared, and I ran. I'm not ashamed of it."

"We were all scared, we all ran. What's your point?"

"I stopped long enough to chain that door. Staircase is narrow – maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze against it at any one time. It's not enough to break through that. Not that chain, not that padlock. My point; Dixon's alive, and he's still up there, handcuffed to that roof. That's on us."

**Yay, Rick's back!**

**What happens next? Stay tuned.**

**Hope you have a good day, I'll see you next chapter.**

**-SparrowEyedGirl**


	5. Chapter 5

**I know, it's been awhile, I'm sorry.**

**In honor of the season finale tonight, I thought I'd update both of my Walking Dead fics.**

**So, enjoy! I don't own anything except Maryanne.**

Chapter Three

Maryanne laid down in the tent after she'd dressed in an oversized baseball shirt, draping a comforter over her and Rick, who laid down behind Maryanne, taking one of her hands in his own.

"I knew I would find you," he told her, kissing her hair. She smiled.

"You're gettin' cocky now," she said.

"No, no, I knew," he replied. "Walkin' into our home, findin' an empty house-"

"I'm so sorry," she whispered. She did regret leaving the home, especially now that she knew he was alive.

"I _knew _you were alive," he told her.

"How?" she asked quietly.

"The photos were gone," he replied. "All of our albums."

Mary laughed and kissed his hand before grabbing a photo album from her bag.

"I told you so," he said, and Maryanne rolled her eyes.

"Now you're gettin' cocky, huh?"

He smiled at her, and she sighed.

"I really thought I'd never see you again," she told him, looking at him once again. "I'm so sorry, for everything. When you were in the hospital, I regretted all of the bad times, all the arguing..."

Though they rarely fought, it still happened, mainly when they found out that they couldn't have children. At some points, it almost came to a divorce.

She was about to continue, but she let Rick kiss her instead. She smiled, and pulled away when she remembered the necklace she was wearing. She pulled the chain out from under her shirt, showing him the pendant with a small smile.

"I wondered where that went," he mused. Her smile widened, and she unfastened the chain, allowing him to slide the wedding ring back on his finger. Rick turned his attention back to her, and his fingers tangled in her hair. She smiled yet again – grateful he was there to look at her like that once again.

"Mornin', officer," Maryanne greeted playfully when she saw Rick walking towards her.

"Hey," he replied.

"You sleep okay?" she asked him.

"Better than in a long time," he told her, and she laughed, her cheeks heating.

"Well, I didn't want to wake you," she replied. "Figured you could use it."

She looked up to see him staring at her. "What?"

"I've been thinkin' 'bout the man we left behind."

Mary sighed and hung a shirt up to dry before facing Rick fully.

"Do you feel like you need to do this, Rick?"

"I don't know..."

"Well, are you askin' me or tellin' me?"

"Askin', Mary."

"Well, I think it's crazy. But I learned a long time ago that if you feel like you need to do somethin', there's no stoppin' you."

They were interrupted by a woman screaming. Both of them looked at each other before running towards the noise, where they found Jacqui, Carl, and Sophia running out of the woods. The mothers of the two children embraced them, and Maryanne knelt in front of Jacqui.

"You alright? Nothin' got you?"

Jacqui shook her head, and Maryanne sighed before helping her up. She looked behind her, and saw most of the men attacking a walker that was eating a doe. She sighed and turned to Lori and Carol.

"Let's get them back," she told the women, who nodded and walked back to their camp.

Maryanne didn't even have to look up when she heard someone call for Merle. There was only one person who didn't know.

"Daryl, just slow up a bit. I need to talk to you," she heard Shane say. She looked at Lori, who probably looked the same as she did. The two sat on the stairs to the R.V., hoping nothing would go terribly wrong.

"'Bout what?"

"'Bout Merle. There was a, uh... problem in Atlanta."

"He dead?"

"We're not sure."

"He either is or he ain't."

"No easy way to say this, so I'll just say it," Rick interjected.

"Who're you?"

"Rick Grimes."

"Rick Grimes?" Daryl asked mockingly. Maryanne rolled her eyes. "You got somethin' you wanna tell me?!"

"Your brother was a danger to us all so I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked 'im to a piece of metal. He's still there."

"Hold on, lemmie process this. You sayin' you handcuffed my brother to a roof and you left him there?!"

_This isn't going well..._

"Yeah."

Maryanne flinched, and found Lori's hand on her forearm, when Daryl lunged at Rick, though Shane managed to subdue him.

"You'd best let me go!"

"Nah, I think it's better if I don't."

"Choke hold's illegal!"

Maryanne shook her head, smiling subtly.

"You can file a complaint," Shane told him. "Come on, man. We'll keep this up all day."

"I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic," Rick told him. "Ya think we can manage that?"

"Yeah," Daryl replied hesitantly and quietly. Shane released him, and backed away. Lori let go of her arm, and Maryanne stood, leaning against the doorway of the R.V.

"What I did was not on a whim," Rick said. "Your brother does not work and play well with others."

"It's not Rick's fault. I had the key... I dropped it," T-Dog added.

"Couldn't pick it up?" Daryl demanded.

"Well, I dropped it in a drain."

"If that's supposed to make me feel better, it don't," he told T-Dog after he stood.

"Maybe this will. Look, I chained the door to the roof so the geeks couldn't get at him... with a padlock."

"It's gotta count for somethin'," Rick said.

"Hell with all y'all! Just tell me where he is so I can go get 'im."

"He'll show you," Maryanne told him. "Ain't that right?"

Rick slowly nodded. "I'm goin' back."

"I don't, okay, Rick? So could you just – could ya throw me a bone here, man?"

Maryanne rolled her eyes at her brother. He'd known Rick his entire life – as had she, but she didn't really talk to him for sixteen years of it – he should know as well as she did why Rick was going.

"Could ya just tell me why? Why would you risk your life for a douche bag like Merle Dixon?"

"Hey, Shane," she called, afraid of setting Daryl off again. He looked at her. "Choose your words more carefully."

"No, I did, Mary," he replied. "Douche bag is what I meant.

He looked back at Rick before continuing. "Merle Dixon... guy wouldn't give ya a glass of water if you were dyin' of thirst."

"What he would or wouldn't do doesn't interest me. _I _can't let a man die of thirst – me. Thirst and exposure. We left him like an animal caught in a trap, that's no way for anything to die, let alone a human being."

"So you and Daryl, that's your big plan?" Lori argued. Maryanne gave her a look.

Rick sighed and looked at Glenn.

"Oh, come on," he protested.

"You know the way. You've been there before – in and out, no problem, you said so yourself. It's not fair of me to ask, I know that, but I'd feel a lot better with you along. I know she would, too," Rick replied, ending with a gesture at Maryanne.

"That's just great, now you're gonna risk three men, huh?" Shane said, receiving a glare from his sister and wife.

"Four," T-Dog added.

"My day just gets better and better, don't it?" Daryl asked.

"You see anybody else here steppin' up to save your brother's cracker ass?"

"Why you?"

"You wouldn't even begin to understand. You don't speak my language."

"That's four," Dale said.

"It's not just four. You're puttin' every single one of us at risk. Just know that, Rick. Come on, you saw that walker! It was here, it was in camp! They're movin' out of the cities – they come back, we need every able body we got. We need 'em here, we need 'em to protect camp!"

"Seems what you really need most here are more guns."

"Right... the guns..." Glenn said.

"Wait, what guns?" Maryanne asked.

"Six shotguns, two high-powered rifles, over a dozen handguns," Rick answered. "I cleaned out the cage back at the station before I left. I dropped the bag in Atlanta when I got swarmed – it's just sittin' there on the street, waitin' to be picked up."

"Ammo?" Shane asked.

"700 rounds, assorted."

"You just got here and you're gonna turn around and leave?" Lori protested.

"I don't want you to go," Carl added.

"To hell with the guns – Shane is right. Merle Dixon? He's not worth one of your lives, even with the guns!"

"Y'all ain't makin' this any easier," Maryanne snapped. Rarely did she ever snap at her friend and her son, but Lori had no right to be more upset than she was. "He's goin', and you can't stop him."

"I owe a debt to a man I met and his little boy," Rick said. He looked at Maryanne, knowing she didn't fully understand, she just accepted he was leaving and there wasn't a thing she could do. "If they hadn't taken me in, I'd have died. It's because of them I made it back at all. They said they'd follow me to Atlanta, they'll walk into the same trap I did if I don't warn him."

"What's stoppin' you?" she asked, standing.

"The walkie-talkie, the one in the bag I dropped. He's got the other one. Our plan was to connect when they got closer."

"These are walkies?" Shane asked.

"Yeah."

"So use the C.B., what's wrong with that?" Andrea asked.

"The C.B.'s fine. It's the walkies that suck to crap, date back to the '70's, don't match any other bandwidth, not even the scanners in our cars."

"I need that bag," Rick told her quietly, and she nodded.

"I know you do," Maryanne told him. "I ain't stoppin' you."

**Well, what do you guys think? Let me know in a review. Also, give me your predictions on which major character is going to be killed off tonight!**

**Thanks for reading, guys, and for everything that you do. It means a lot.**

**I hope you all have a great day.**

**-SparrowEyedGirl**


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